All Rise...

Editor's Note

The Charge

They shared the pleasures of the flesh, and the horrors of the grave!

The Case

What could be a more simple setup for a gory horror story that seeks to marry
the frightening with its own brand of eroticism? Glamorous and frequently-nude
lesbian vampires named Fran (Marianne Morris, The Love Box) and Miriam
(Anulka, Playboy Playmate of the Month May 1973) lure unsuspecting travelers to
their Gothic mansion, in order to satisfy their insatiable thirst for blood.
Vampyres is a stylish and sure fire hit if you're into erotic shock
horror of the Hammer variety as opposed to today's more blood-soaked torture
porn such as Hostel or Saw. It holds its own almost four decades later
as a sexy, dreamy chance to see a Playboy bunny run through the countryside in a
hooded cloak looking for blood from anybody willing to go to bed with her.
Writer-director Jose Ramon Larraz created a pretty fun flick that surprisingly
works well as solid erotic horror done straight up as a salute to Hammer
studios. Heck, he even got the famous Oakley Court castle seen in so many
British horror flicks as well as The
Rocky Horror Picture Show to serve as his main setting.

Blue Underground has released this title on DVD previously, and it seems all
the extras come from that 2003 edition. Present is the insanely entertaining
commentary with director Jose Ramon Larraz and his producer Brian Smedley-Aston.
They contrast each other nicely as reserved English gentleman and fiery
sex-obsessed Spaniard. Also here are the 2003 interviews with the stars Marianne
Morris and Anulka who seem to have aged gracefully and kept their sense of humor
about their legacy as naked bloodsuckers who were dubbed by other actresses.
There are a pair of hilarious trailers as well which offer a unique chance to
see how the film was marketed in Europe and then the United States. Missing
entirely from the Blu-ray edition are still galleries as well as the
reconstruction of a "lost" scene, so save your deluxe edition of the
DVD from 2003 if you own it.

What is amped up for Blu-ray when compared to DVD editions is mainly the
audio track, which grows from a single channel mono to a seven speaker full
DTS-HD treatment. Not that this film needed the extra oomph, but it's nice to
see it get some more sonic love. Also added in are more subtitle options if you
need to show the film to a French or Spanish speaking friend. The picture looks
great, but it does have that 1974 grainy quality that we saw in the DVD
releases. The film is shown uncut and uncensored, and the whole thing was
remastered for digital presentation. There are some minor flaws near the end
where digital artifacts pop up, but overall it's hard to find fault with this
one's excellent technical presentation. Blue Underground knows what the fans of
this type of cinema want, and they always find a way to show their passion in
the end product.

Vampyres is the kind of film that you look at and it immediately
invokes a more innocent time when a couple of bloodsucking naked ladies were
cause for alarm. It seems almost quaint now when you compare it to the hardcore
horror films that get cranked out with plenty of gore and nudity. But it has a
signature style, a unique feel that can never be captured again. Blue
Underground certainly will make a lot of fans happy to see this one in high
definition for the first time. Nothing feels better than watching two women run
through a graveyard on their way to destroy an English motorist who never sees
it coming. Vampyres is an enduring cult flick that always brings a smile
to my face, even if it is a decidedly lecherous one.